Labour forced to pull its Rochdale candidate

Following 48 hours of criticism, Labour have tonight pulled their support for Azhar Ali. This morning, it seemed that Keir Starmer had chosen the unpalatable over the disastrous: backing Ali to avoid George Galloway returning as an independent to the Commons. Yet during the course of the day, the calculation appears to have changed. 

The decision to disown Ali was announced shortly before 8 p.m, with a party spokesman referring to ‘new information coming to light.’ The timing of this statement suggests that a day three story about Ali’s past comments will be published in tomorrow’s papers and Labour are now belatedly trying to get ahead of this story. Ali will appear on ballot papers in Rochdale, along with the party’s logo, but does not enjoy official support. He has also been suspended as a Labour member.

George Galloway’s path to victory now looking much more likely. His main challenger has now had his support pulled, with the resources of Labour’s formidable by-election machine denied to Ali.